DIRTT Connext 2017

2017 Agenda Overview

Thursday, June 8

DIRTTbags arrive in Chicago

Friday, June 9

Partners arrive in Chicago

Training sessions for DIRTTbags

Saturday, June 10 - DIRTT Connext Partner Day

Morning: The days starts with the annual Partner Day Parade from the Loews Hotel lobby to the beautiful Chicago Theatre for a morning of industry news, updates, entertainment and more. Highlights include Partner Awards ceremony, a keynote address by top TED Talk speaker and businessman Daniel Pink, and exciting news from DIRTT's three co-founders.

Afternoon: Partner Sessions at Loews. Tailor your afternoon agenda for the most worthwhile experience. This year we have more than 20 goal-specific sessions to choose from, covering nearly every aspect of DIRTT. Select your sessions within registration. Descriptions can also be viewed below.

Evening: Partner Party! Celebrate our growing success and commitment to building better with a Partner Party at the 2017 Chicago Green Learning Center.

Connext public showcase at the DIRTT Chicago Green Learning Center.Doors open at 8am, Monday through Wednesday.

Saturday Afternoon Sessions Overview

Partners can choose up to four Saturday afternoon sessions. Full session descriptions, times and sign-up details are available within registration.

1:00pm & 1:55pm Sessions:

NEW SESSION: Deliver Good is an organization that works with businesses all over North America to re-purpose workplace goods (such as furniture and equipment) for charities and non-profits. In their own words, they’re focused on “connecting companies who have stuff with charities and non-profits who need stuff.” DIRTT is currently working to make this program a reality for Partners.Partners attending this session will hear how they can work with Deliver Good to help give clients’ old DIRTT a new (feel good) life.

Acoustics Talk acoustics without getting dragged down a
technical-talk rabbit hole. You’ll be guided through top-level
discussion points and common traps to avoid. You’ll leave with clear and
concise tools to confidently fulfill acoustics demands.

Add Life To Commercial/Institutional Projects – Residential
Nearly everyone is looking for ways to integrate warm
details and materials into their spaces. We’ll cover best practices for
adding residential design into non-residential spaces such as
healthcare, education and offices.

Architectural Graphics – Wow Your Clients, Fill Your Wallet
Wayfinding. Communicating. Culture building. Every space
needs durable, elegant and integrated signage. Join the Identity Ink
team to learn just the right amount of understanding needed to position
yourself as a tremendous asset to your clients, while making your own
life easier.

Bringing A&D Around
Architects and designers shouldn’t be your only point of contact, and
Head DIRTTbag Mogens Smed is adamant you should never waste time giving
them a lunch-n-learn. But design professionals can and should be won
over. Learn how to communicate DIRTT’s message and deliver efficient
execution, help local A&D teams make the most of your design-assist
capabilities, and how they can set their own firm apart by leveraging.

Connecting with the End User
The best way to win a DIRTT client is to go right to the
end user/client/owner… the one who will inhabit the space after all the
contractors and consultants have gone on to the next job. Learn micro
and macro ways to identify, reach and strategically engage end users so
you’re equipped to build a fluid pipeline of activity

Contracts: Don’t Let ‘em Trap You
Every construction contract is different and it’s in your
best interest to read the entire contract, every time. Our panelists
have been on both sides of a contract and will share: guidance to ensure
you are profitable on your projects, contract traps to look for and
what they can mean, and more.

Designers: Kickass Renderings and Fly-throughs
Take your 3D renderings to the next level and learn how to make the most
of ICE’s available rendering tools. Includes in-depth explanation of
photo-style rendering tools, tips on how to set up your ICE file for a
high-quality 3D rendering, explorations of lighting techniques,
adjusting settings to control quality or performance, populating your
scenes, and more.

Education: Oh the Places You’ll Go
Education is the perfect medium for DIRTT. Use the experience and
knowledge of this panel to learn the best ways to approach everything
from marketing to sales to execution. We’ll also cover tools and
purchasing vehicles available to help the procurement team find the
easiest path to purchase, how to prepare and defend a performance
specification, and Go/No-Go strategies.

Embracing Complex Projects
DIRTT is a construction solution where you can get creative and make
things work. Don’t be intimidated because it isn’t a 9’ floor-to-ceiling
glass project – because there is a huge team of brilliant minds to help
you get through. Embrace complexity and take it as an opportunity to
design something beautiful. This team uses real-world projects ranging
from hospitals to challenging building conditions to give you an
understanding of how to not only approach such jobs, but to
enthusiastically go find them. You’ll leave with tools and confidence to
market, sell and deliver the DIRTT method of construction properly,
profitably and more often.

Healthcare: Knocking Down the Barriers
Using real-world project examples, learn to identify
surefire signs a healthcare client is ready to embrace DIRTT and how to
sweep away the external challenges. This panel focuses on the healthcare
job’s universal road-blocks: acoustics, infection prevention,
suspicious contractors and inexperienced design professionals. We’ll
also help tear down your own internal barriers to success by exploring
best practices for the most efficient execution of a healthcare project.

Installation Costs: Take Control
This session is for those who want to feel more confident
in your installation service contractor and have better control over the
final piece to the DIRTT solutions puzzle (installation), all while
delivering a profitable, timely, and quality result. Are the prices
you’re given for contract installation services are too steep? Are you
getting the value you deserve? Would you like faster and more accurate
responses on your labor quotes? Would your clients rejoice if you were
nimbler in getting their requests scheduled and achieved?

Kinetech: Work It To The Max Learn how DIRTT Partners maximize the power of Kinetech PM Interior
Construction (KPMIC) to tackle more business with the same amount of
people and can cut down on the workload.

Principal Exclusive: What Is Your Business Strategy?
Whether you're launching your DIRTT division or reinvesting
for the fifth year in a row, this is the session for you. Topics
include: hiring, compensation and bonus strategies; creating and
maintaining team efficiencies; nurturing cooperation between business
units; strategic reinvestment to prevent profit erosion, and more.

3:00pm & 3:55pm Sessions:

NEW SESSION: Deliver Good
is an organization that works with businesses all over North America to
re-purpose workplace goods (such as furniture and equipment) for
charities and non-profits. In their own words, they’re focused on
“connecting companies who have stuff with charities and non-profits who
need stuff.” DIRTT is currently working to make this program a reality
for Partners.Partners attending this session will hear how they can work
with Deliver Good to help give clients’ old DIRTT a new (feel good)
life.

Codes & Compliance Your
lawyer will thank you for attending this session and so will your bank
account. Learn the most important things to know about codes and
compliance. Knowing this stuff protects you and gets you more respect on
the jobsite. It will also help early on in your Go/No-Go decisions.

COM HardwareCOM
Hardware can sometimes feel less like an offering and more like a
curse. This session will be your COM Hardware love potion. You’ll leave
with confidence and a sense of purpose to bring your clients a better
experience and allow you to sleep at night. You’ll get the who, what,
where, when and a whole lot of how.

Designers: Quick Quote McDraw Ever been asked for a quick, ballpark DIRTT quote? Oh, and the person asking didn’t have the information required to do it properly. Since you’re on it, how about throw in a quick ICEvision with graphics and upgraded finishes? If you’ve spent hours of your life hating these moments, sign up for this session. Join two experienced DIRTT designers to learn how to streamline your preliminary quoting phase. They’ll share their best tips for working efficiently to prepare clean, concise quotes with confidence.

How to Execute a Healthcare Project You’ve decided to jump into the great big market of healthcare. Now... how to deliver? Learn the steps to making sure you properly and efficiently deliver on acoustics, infection control and schedule. Examine the tools DIRTT is creating to give you and your client a step-by-step understanding of the process for integrating DIRTT with the conventional construction world surrounding it.

ICE® and Revit: Bringing Worlds Together ICE® and Revit are both designed for the construction industry. Revit is "Generic and Product-agnostic," while ICE is "Custom and Product-specific.” Clarify how ICE integrates with Revit, learn how to demonstrate ICE’s value-add to consultants that use Revit, hear about the improvements in development for a better workflow and more.

Myth Busting Come analyze and break down the myths surrounding DIRTT. Out of all the ways to build interior environments, DIRTT can be singled out as the most misunderstood method of construction. Just think of all the rumors you’ve heard: “DIRTT is more expensive.” “DIRTT is only for clients who need portability.” “DIRTT can’t perform acoustically.” The list goes on. We are here to help you clear the air and give clients the facts to crush those myths.

Power, Networks, Floor: Easier Than You ThinkHear first-hand how the Power/Network/Floor story can be your best starting point instead of an “Oh, BTW, we have this stuff too.” This panel includes one of last year’s Champions of the Year. She attributes much of her success to turning around her attitude on PNF and even bringing PON into her conversations. Leave this session empowered with tips and tricks for telling the PNF story without any anxiety and discover all the people and tools at your disposal for bringing your full DIRTT solution to your clients. As one of our Partners says, "I love this stuff. It’s free money!"

Principal-Exclusive Session: Keep or Carve Join this lively conversation through the pros and cons of having standalone DIRTT versus building it inside your current business model or giving it just a little breathing room. These leaders each blazed the trail as early adopters and have come out the other side with lessons for you, so maybe you can skip over some of the worst bits. They will share their knowledge about running financials, creating the right marketing message, hiring the right people and getting teams to work as one big team, whether you are considering starting a separate DIRTT entity or working to nurture it within your current business. You will discover you can take the fundamentals of DIRTT success and mold them to your own situation.

Procurement: It is your entry or your brick wall. Procurement folks can be the difference between you winning or losing a project. Dig into the options for achieving success in the specification process. You’ll leave prepared to find the right people to speak with and deliver what they need to feel confident in recommending DIRTT. (CSI Division 13 will play a big role.) You’ll also get more details on why you should take advantage of the DIRTT Finance/Order Entry Teams who can assist you when you are using a contract to place an order. Come to this session to help establish yourself as an irreplaceable resource for education and government clients.

Telling the DIRTT StoryThese two never blink when it comes to the full DIRTT delivery (floor, power, networks, millwork, – the works!). They’ve experienced rejection yet held firm until they found the right clients. You’ll come away with Go/No Go strategies as your foundation for fearlessly taking your DIRTT business to the next level. Discover how to be an invaluable resource on your projects and never thought of as simply a vendor.

Timber Frame: Where and When?There are sweet spots for you to target when it comes to Timber Frame. This session gives you step by step guide to presenting and executing a successful timber frame project. Release your inner lumberjack and get hands-on with DIRTT's Timber Frame solution.

Virtual reality: Making the InvestmentThinking about getting a VR kit for your business? You should. It is a powerful differentiator and will be a big draw in your region. You’ll be the first kid on the block who can meld the exciting world of the virtual videogame experience with the real-world business needs of certainty and speed during design and construction.Come examine the value of an investment in this first-of-its-kind technology and learn the best practices for getting the most out of hosting your own VR sessions for your market.

You Are ConstructionKnowing the language, how to help trades provide best pricing and how to be a vital member of the construction team is the only way to go. This session will help you with your approach and give you tools to move the rest of the construction and architectural world see you as a benefit to them, rather than a threat or misguided. Delve into why the "Integrated" part of our title in the CSI Division 13, "Integrated Prefab Interior Construction" is the word that differentiates you.